Cane of the ‘Week’: Feather/Leaf Cane

Hi, folks ! Well, in my last blog entry, I mentioned that I would be ‘soon’ posting my latest cane design. Here it is, 3 weeks later, and I’m finally getting the thing uploaded. The cane was made, and the steps were photographed. I even retouched and numbered the photos. But I simply have not had the time and energy to write the captions and do the editing. I have mostly myself to blame for this, since I changed the font size and color from the original template to make the text easier to see. This requires that I toggle back and forth between ‘visual’ and ‘HTML’ modes, and it’s a royal pain in the butt. The result is a less ‘polished’ look than the original blog template, but if I reduce my readers’ eyestrain, it’s worth it !

My feather cane is not a ‘ground-breaking original’ technique, but rather a combination of various techniques to which I’ve added my own particular twist. Like many of my canes, it starts out as a Skinner blend. I generally use 3-4 colors, but of course that is a personal choice. I especially like to use complementary colors on each end of the blend with white and/or analogous colors in the middle, for example: violet; blue; green; yellow.

So without further ado, here’s my version of a feather cane, enjoy !

My chosen Skinner blend colors. As usual, they are mixed colors I happened to have on hand.

The sheets are cut and arranged prior to blending. I like to experiment with different configurations, but usually separate the complimentary colors (yellow and purple here)

The resulting blend is rolled across all the colors like this.

The rolled log is about 6.5″ long and about 3/4″ in diameter. This will now be compressed to form a ‘plug’

I roll towards the center to shorten and thicken the log.

At this point the ‘plug’ is about 2.5″ long and 1.5″ in diameter.

I stand the ‘plug’ up on my work surface and shape it into a rectangle.

Then I lay the rectangular plug down on my work surface and use my hands to stretch it vertically. I try to maintain a width of about 1.5″ from the yellow end to the purple.

Once my Skinner strip is long and thin, I roll it through the pasta machine on the thickest setting.

The strip looks like this after it has gone through the pasta machine I trim and smooth the ragged edges

I then roll a strip of black clay (very thin setting, #6 on my Atlas machine) the same length as the Skinner strip, and place the strip on top. Watch out for air bubbles !

I trim the excess black clay, then place another thin sheet of black clay on top, and trim again. The result is a colored strip between two thin sheets of black clay.

The strip is cut into equal pieces about 1.5″ in length. I wound up with 8 pieces.

I now proceed to build my clay ‘staircase’ by staggering each piece about 1/4″ from the previous one.

I then begin to shape the ‘staircase’ into an elongated semicircle. Note that the color on the bottom will be on the inside of the feather, so plan accordingly !

I stood up the semicircle here so you can better see the ‘half-feather’ shape.

The semicircle is cut in half (but don’t put the halves together yet !)

Place a very thin sheet of white (#6-#7 thickness on the Atlas) on one of the cane halves, about 2/3 the length of the cane.

The two halves are mirrored. Note the white ‘vein’ in the center.

I reduce the cane by standing it up on my work surface, and pinching and squeezing towards the center and upwards.

When the cane starts to ‘move’, I start pulling on it to make it taller. I try to maintain the feather shape as I do this.

The cane is now reduced. I took slices of it at various stages of the reduction process.

Here’s a closeup of the cane. I’m pleased with the colors, although I would’ve liked more yellow in the center.

Here’s another cane made using the same method, but a ‘fall leaves’ color palette.

Closeup of the ‘fall leaves’ feather cane.

Here I have reshaped the cane to make a leaf by elongating the base so it looks like a stem.

Here are the two canes side by side; they are 4-5″ in length, and about 1″ from base to tip.

Thanks, Cindy, Susan, Kathi, and Ruth !!! I’m so glad you liked it ! I will be very glad when I have more time and energy to devote to the blog and the caning. Meanwhile, thanks for sticking around during my ‘semi-hiatus’ !

Thanks so much for your kind comments on my tutorial for mirror beads. They are such fun to do and always surprising. Your tutorial is great. Thanks for sharing, I can now really appreciate what it takes to post an understandable photo tutorial.

It’s your tablemate from Sarah Shriver’s workshop. I just adore your website and admire you for the high level of effort and love that you’ve put into the tutorials. It’s because of wonderful folks like you that so many of us have been able to teach ourselves, create, and even teach others.

Since seeing you in July, I went to France to take a class with Tory Hughes at Gwen Gibson’s retreat, La Cascade. Tres magnifique!!! I can’t make it in June for Sarah’s class; maybe we could do a class together at another time. I had fun with you! KIT!
Yours in PC,
Carol

Hi Carol, good to hear from you !! I’m glad you like my tutorials. I haven’t had much time for them lately due to taking a temporary ‘real’ job, but it will be mercifully over next Friday, Nov. 21st, and I can once again play with the clay.
Wow, that Tory Hughes workshop in France sounds awesome ! What a marvelous experience that must have been !
I’m sure we will meet again at another workshop, I’ve promised to treat myself to a few now and then, as my funds allow..They are such a fabulous learning experience.
Clay on!
Dora

Im genuinely enjoying the style and layout of one’s website. Its a very uncomplicated on the eyes which makes it a great deal much more enjoyable for me to come here and pay a visit to far more typically. Did you hire out a designer to make your theme? Excellent perform! fcdefdgdddbk

I love it!! Thanks so much for the hard work you put into your posts, clear and easy to understand tutorials are the foundation of craft exploration, I would never try anything new if it wasn’t for the effort that you put forth in helping your readers! So from the bottom of my heart, thank you again for your hard work, it has not gone unnoticed:) namaste

Thanks so much ! It has been so long since I have been blogging about my polymer clay ‘explorations’. Alas, real life has put a damper on my muse, I can only hope she returns soon. Since I started this blog, the number of polymer clay on-line tutorials has skyrocketed! It is gratifying to know there are still folks who find my posts informative and helpful when there are so many amazing polymer clay artists out there.
Happy Creating!